US retail giant Target is being sued by the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) because their websites are inaccessible to the blind according to Cnet News.
Bruce Sexton, part of the group suing Target, claims that the website “contains thousands of access barriers that make it difficult, if not impossible, for blind customers to use”. Sexton successfully browses most websites using screen readers but there are a number of factors that makes using Target’s site impossible for him. A lack of ‘alt’ text on images and makes the site difficult to use, while he can browse and search for products this problem prohibits finding the price of products. Further the checkout process requires the use of a mouse to complete the checkout process rendering the site useless as an e-commerce retailer to him.
This further goes to show the seriousness of accessibility issues with websites and illustrates the importance designing websites with usability and accessibility in mind. Not only is it a potential pitfall with a large number of your potential audience but your site could be braking laws by not complying with accessibility laws.
